Hey doomsters this is the Ancient One and I’ve just returned from yet another odyssey through the cyberscape traveling the ethereal soundwaves. While traveling I learned through fellow music heads Italian wizards of heavy psych / stoner / doom Ufomammut have released a new album entitled “8”. Wanting to know more I wasted no time in getting a early preview but I unfortunately failed you. While I wanted to let you know about it before its September 22nd release date to give you all time to get your pre-orders in I was unable to because personal issues got in my way.

For those who are unfamiliar with them, Ufomammut (pronounced- ufomam’mut) is a heavy psych / stoner / doom band hailing from Italy. Going strong since 1999 “Ufomammut” was formed by Poia (guitarist, synth, and sound effects), Urlo (bass guitar, synth, sound effects and vocals), and Vito (drums) With 7 albums to date the bands upcoming album was released on the “Neurot Recordings label on September 22nd and is the bands 8th album, thus its title “8”.

As in past albums “Ufomammut” fearlessly experiments with sound and music. But what makes “8” unique is the method in which it was recorded. Seeking to give the listener the experience of listening to them live Ufomammut recorded the instruments in live studio sessions. And this painstaking process that has resulted in an amazing album.

Opening with “BABEL,” stoner doom Wizards Ufomammut begin weaving their auditory spell using a language all can understand. While I’d like to tell you which songs I liked most I really can’t. Every time I took time to look at the title of the song playing it broke my trance. So instead I will tell you what I enjoyed about “8” as a whole.

Unlike some music in which you feel like a spectator watching or listening to the metal gods on high, “8” envelopes you making you feel like you are part of the music. Listening to the fuzzed out guitar, drums, bass, droning chants, and psychedelic sound effects had me feeling like I was part of some strange musical mystery cult. “8” is best listened to in full and if you don’t have a decent stereo I recommend listening with headphones.

Helping them launch their latest album on September 22nd the “Malleus Art Collective” unveiled it’s “A Malleusdelic Art Trip Into Ufomammut exhibition” at the release party held at the Santeria Social Club (Milan, Italy) on September 22nd.

AVAILABLE NOW (Here) https://www.malleusdelic.com/store/index.php… – “The Art of Ufomammut” is a graphic journey by Malleus through 18 years of UFOMAMMUT. We wanted to put together almost all the designs we created during these years for Ufomammut, from the first album covers to the last silkscreen posters, from the Limited Edition vinyls to the t-shirt designs. 96 pages – softcover.

Like many Ufomammut fans,I would have loved to go to the release party or to one of their European dates following it. But since I can’t get to Europe I can console myself with the fact Ufomammut will also be appearing at the Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore, Maryland next year May 24th – 27th, 2018. Highly Recommend!!

Just this weekend, Neurosis has re-released their 2nd album, “The Word as Law”, originally released June 1st, 1990 through Lookout! Records. The album has been out of print since the 90’s so fans who didn’t get the chance to buy it up 20+ years ago should be chomping at the bit to sink their teeth into this classic. Since 1990 a lot has happened to Neurosis including a major change in sound which includes the addition of a keyboardist. One fact that’s worthy of note; “The Word as Law” was released in 1990 with 8 tracks. It was re-released with 7 additional bonus tracks in 1991 with Simon McIllroy on Keys. This 2017 re-release exclusively contains the 8 original tracks, remastered. No keys.

The 2017 re-release also has new cover art. It’s simple and elegant. The main image to the bottom right, rule of thirds applied, shows a framed mouth, tongue outstretched and pierced with a nail. To this old metal head, the purplish background looks like battle-worn leather. The image is completed with the band logo in the top left corner.

The album opens with 4 slow, gentle strums of an electric guitar followed by a quick riff and into ‘Double-Edged Sword.’ Neurosis is currently labelled as Avant-Garde metal and early influencers of post-metal but in the early 90’s they had a much different sound. Their website indicates their early albums are a product of their punk roots. Wikipedia talks about them starting out playing hardcore. I honestly don’t know a whole lot about punk and hardcore, but yeah, I can hear the punk. However, when this old metal head listened to ‘Double-Edged Sword’ for the first time I also heard heavy influence from a very certain other California band. Fair warning: if you’re a fan of punk and hardcore, this might piss you off. I will concede that maybe this band didn’t influence Neurosis, maybe they just share the same influences, being from the same area. In fact, the band I hear influencing Neurosis has identified as former, skate-board-riding punks. The band I’m referring to is none other than thrash legends, Slayer.

Scott Kelly sounds remarkably like Tom Araya on this album. Many of the guitar breakdowns and lead breaks reek of Kerry King BUT with a punk flair. Considering their influence in sludge, it really shouldn’t be too unrealistic to believe Neurosis have some metal roots. The 90’s were a very strange time in heavy music. Many, many bands started off with a particular sound and then went off in a completely different direction, Neurosis included. As a metal head teen in the 90’s, I read a lot of metal zines where I often encountered the term “Slayer Babies.” At the time, Slayer was claiming that too many new bands were copying their sound. I’m sitting here wondering if that was truly the case, or maybe hard music had just reached a point where there wasn’t much variety. Maybe the term Slayer Babies was really the industry crying out for something new and fresh and exciting which Neurosis delivered as early as their next album, “Souls at Zero”. But it’s not 1990 anymore so let’s not kid ourselves, sounding like Slayer-does-punk isn’t a terrible thing. In fact, I rather like it.

Track 4, ‘To What End?’ is more what I expect traditional hardcore to be. The vocals are screamed (still sounds like Araya) in a different manner. The distortion is more hardcore. Lyrically, the whole album is more punk than metal. I particularly enjoy ‘Tomorrow’s Reality’ lyrics and my comparison to Slayer completely breaks down for this track where I could compare them more to Macabre than anything else. I’m not sure whose backing vocals resemble Nefarious but damn, that’s a tough sound to generate. My throat hurts just thinking about it.

The album closes with ‘Blisters’ which gives us a hint of the sludge to come. It’s slow, thick to start and bass-y. It’s almost as if they knew where they were going next and saved this track for last as a hint for the listener.

Neurosis Lineup during “The Word As Law” Era!!

All-in-all, the re-release of “The Word as Law” should be viewed as a second chance, of sorts. Neurosis fans of new should rejoice at a rare chance to pick up an album off their back catalog that might not have been readily available in recent years. Fans of hard music who aren’t familiar with Neurosis get the opportunity to experience the band starting from their early work. And fuck, Neurosis get another shot at making a few well deserved bucks off their early work. For a band who have been at it for decades, it’s crazy when you realize that these guys still have day jobs. So let’s get out and support them.

Italian heavy psychedelic band UFOMAMMUTrecently announced the imminence of their next studio effort 8 and that it will be released via Neurot Recordings on September 22nd. In anticipation of the event, the guys are issuing a new official video for the track “Warsheep“today. That’s it above but things don’t end there as UFOMAMMUT is offering “Warsheep” as a limited edition 7″. It is available in a small run of 500 pieces, each with the cover handprinted with gold iridescent and red inks on pearlescent paper by Malleus. The 7″ record shall be released via Supernatural Cat on 15th June but pre-orders are available now here.

Preorder information and more for 8 will be revealed over the upcoming months.